ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (19)

   Alice didn't look at all like she belonged in a small country town. She was dressed like a model, which she was until she married Melvin. She said she married him for his looks, which he was handsome. 
   "Now what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Melvin asked Edie.
   Edie just blurted out, "I need to go to Philly."
   "That's a long way from here. It's about two hundred miles. It would be a lot cheaper to go by train. Why cab?"
   Edie spoke up, "I know but I don't have my chair and I don't have any money."
   That made Melvin stand up. No money. How is she going to pay the $30.50 and she wants to go to Philly? If she was a guy, I would knock her out cold. "How are you going to pay your cab bill?"
   "I have a friend in Philly that will take care of it."
   "You want to go to Philly, Alice?"
   "I would love to and go shopping and see the bright lights."

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (18)

"Well, Ma'am, here we are.  At the office.  That will be twenty-nine dollars and fifty cents, please"

"I need to talk to your boss." Edie said. "Could I go in the office?"

The driver looked at her funny like to say, 'yea, how are you going to do that?'

"If someone could bring out a chair with wheels on it, I could be rolled in."

The driver stood there with his mouth open.  What a good idea, he thought.  This lady is smart.  She won't let her problems get her down.

A man named Ted came back with an office chair and his boss, Melvin, who was his brother.  Melvin needed to see where his chair was going, first off, then what was this story Ted was telling about a woman with no legs, no wheel-chair, out in the mountains, running away from her brother --and she was in the cab.

After the introducing, Ted and Melvin got Edie into the chair and wheeled her into the office.  Melvin's wife was there.  They introduced her as Alice.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (17)

"Oh, my God!  He's coming up the drive-way!" Edie yelled in fright.  "Harry, help me get my sewing machine in!"

"It won't fit in the back seat, and what about your chair?" the driver asked.

Just then, Bill drove right by the cab as Edie told Susan to get down on the floor as she did the same.  Bill was going down the bottom of the hill to turn around.

Edie was really scared and was talking fast.

"Forget everything!  Just get us out of here before my brother gets back up the hill, PLEASE!"

The driver jumped into the cab, Mable pulled the wheelchair and sewing machine away from the cab and the the driver turned the cab around as quickly as he could being in a tight drive-way.

Edie looked at Mable holding her sewing machine. ('My means for making a living and my chair!')  Tears rolled down her face.  But more importantly, they had to get out of there and quick.

"Driver, drive as fast as you can!"

She held Susan.  The child was so afraid she was crying uncontrollably.

"Susan, please stop that crying."

"Mommy, I can't.  I wet my pants."

('Oh, the poor kid!  All I could think about was us getting away and with Bill catching us and how stressed out I felt, forgetting how all this is affecting Susan.'  Edie thought.)

"Stay down in the seat. You'll have to wear a pair of panties in the knitting bag.  I know they're still wet, but, not as wet as what you are wearing."

As Edie was helping Susan change, she looked out the back window and she didn't see her brother.  He couldn't keep up with the newer cab.

"Sir, you can slow down now. You've lost him." This was a good thing as the cab driver was in a sweat.

"Ma'am, where do you want to go?" asked the driver.

"Oh, I thought I told you.  To your office."

Edie hugged Susan and combed her hair.

"We're on our way now." Edie said, smiling.

"Where Mommy?"

"It'll be a surprise."

Edie didn't exactly know herself.  She had a friend in Philadelphia that they would stop in to see.  Maybe then she'd know what to do.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (16)

"Ok, Ladies, let's get up the hill. It looks like a good travelin' day!" Mable said as though she was about to break out in song.

Mable and Edie started up the hill.  It was easier with Mable. 'Wish we had her at the beginning of the trip' Edie thought to herself.

As they approached the cab, Mable yelled to the cab driver for some help. It was a good thing he drove closer, because just as Susan and Edie were about ready to get into the cab, Edie spotted her brother's truck out on the road.

Edie tried to talk as quietly as she could, telling Mable and the cab driver that she saw her brother, but Mable was yelling at the cabdriver for not staying and helping with getting Edie up the hill. So, Edie yelled at Mable to STOP!. "I saw my brother.  And I think he saw me when he heard me yell."

He DID!  He turned around and started up the drive-way.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (15)

"Susan, how 'bout you carrin' that bag that's on your mama's lap? And Edie, do ya' have to take that table with ya?"

"Oh, this is not a table, this is a sewing machine!  I need to make a living where ever I live."

"Ya' sew? How ya' do that?"

"I put the foot pedal up on the lid (when it's open to sew) and use my left hand to push the pedal down like I was using my foot."

"Ya' sure are smart and ya' sew?"

"I made Susan's dress she's wearing."

"And ya' gonna' make a livin' sewin'?"

"I hope so." Edie replied. "No, I have to or starve."

"We won't starve, Mommy. We'll have a garden." Susan said.

"Out of the mouths of babes." Edie said as she hugged Susan. "Yes, we will have a garden and we will grow flowers to sell and vegetables to eat.  How do you like that?"

"Can I have a kitten? All my own? I'll take good care of it."

(How subjects change quickly with children.)

Escape from The Mountains (14)

"Where did the cab driver go?"
"He jes took off and went back to his car."
"Well, that was real nice of him.  Why did he do that?"

Mable explained the reason.  Then Edie calmed down.

"What are we going to do?", Edie asked anxiously.  She wanted to get going.

Mable went outside.  Said she would be back in a few minutes.  She was with a 4' x 8' piece of ply-wood.

"I think we can use this on the steps and ya's can slide down it.  What do ya' think?"

"If you hold the chair back so it doesn't go too fast, I think we have it made."

It worked!  It was a good idea that Mable was strong.  She was built like a bull.

Now the hill.

"I'm sorry you have to do this, Mable." Edie said as the touched Mable's arm.

"I've done worse. Don't ya' fret, now."

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (13)

   He told her that he had been married before and didn't like it and swore he would never do it again. Well, she would live with him but as sister and brother in case someone came along that wanted to marry her. Well, no one ever did in forty-five years. I guess no one was as good as her "brother." You could see that Mable was a pretty woman in her younger years. Edie thought to herself, I don't think people believe your story, Mable, about you and Harry being sister and brother. After forty-five years, you still look at him like a school girl.
   "Oh, someone is knocking at the door. Mus' be the cab."
   "Hi, I don't think I better drive the cab down that hill with it being steep and the mud. I'll never get up the hill. You're gonna have to meet me up at the hill." And then he walked away so fast Mable couldn't catch him to tell him about Edie. 
    "Well, I guess we'll have to do it ourselves. Edie, come on. The cab man left. We have to walk you up the hill. He said the cab wouldn't make it up the hill. We'll talk while we walk."

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (12)

    "I'm gonna cook up some fried eggs, bacon and tators. How's that? And more coffee."
    Edie shook her head yes but replied, "Please don't go to any trouble. Just coffee would be fine. Susan might want something, though."
    "Ya, can't live on coffee. Dear, if ya don't mind me askin' , was it the diabetes that took your legs?"
   "No, it wasn't diabetes. It was a fire. But I would rather not talk about it. Why does Harry go to the train station?" Edie had to change the subject, while Miss Mable still had her mouth wide open with surprise to Edie's comment. Miss Mable was a nice lady and very good-hearted but she sure was nosy. She asked a dozen questions. She never answered why Harry goes to the station. But Edie found out that Miss Mable and Harry were not sister and brother. Mable told Edie in secret because she was leaving and she wouldn't be able to tell anyone. Edie thought, oh well, let her live in her dream land. She was simple-minded. Harry met her working in a general store when she was fourteen living in a small town called Berryville, Arkansas. 

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (11)

   "What are you doing, Edie?"
   "Harry, I told you what was going on at the farm with my brother. Well, Susan and I are leaving."
   "And you two walked all this way from your place?"
   "Yes, we did. Mud and all," Edie said proudly.
   "You get a lot of rain up your way last night?"
   "We didn't get much."
   "It came down in buckets. And lightning. I wanted to leave last night but Susan said she was afraid."
   "What? You crazy woman. In a storm! At night."
   "I'm desperate."
   "Well, your cab will be here in about an hour. So make yourselves at home. Mabel, get them something to eat."
   "I will," Mable said as she stood quickly.
   "Well, good luck and God bless you but I got work to do. Susan, take care of your mama. And you be a good girl, ya hear?"

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (10)

    Susan knocked on the door several times before  Miss Mable came to the door. She had the radio on in the kitchen so loud you could hear it outside. Gospel music. "Give Me That Old Time Religion." Edie recognized that song. Her mother played it on the piano all the time. 
   Miss Mable looked shocked when she opened the door. Where on earth did these people come from? No car or truck? She looked at Edie with her mouth opened for about a minute before she said anything. "Can I help you all?"
   "May I please use your phone?" Edie replied.
   "Darling, yes you sure can. Now how are you gonna get up them steps?"
   As luck would have it, here comes Miss Mable's brother Harry. He was the man that Edie met at the train station down town when she came home from Philadelphia. He pushed her chair to the cab and they talked while they were waiting for the cab. They were very glad to see one another. Now Harry can help Edie up the steps. Do I smell coffee? Edie thought as she entered the kitchen.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (9)

   That man that told me about using his phone didn't tell me this. Leave it to a man. "The fence is in front of the house."
   "Yeah, in front of a steep hill."
    Oh well, and a thought came into her mind about when she was in the hospital which she didn't want to remember but she just happened to remember this one nurse. Whenever Edie needed something, like a bed pan, really needed, the nurse would say, "Oh, stop bitching, Edie. There's worst off people in here than you." So with that thought, Edie said, "Susan, looks like we have another hill to slide down. Joy, joy." Her favorite last words. Susan just made a face. They both made faces at one another and laughed. What were they going to do? If they only knew then that they would be climbing and sliding down hills and laughing and crying sometimes for many years to come.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (8)

   :Just this hill and then everything will be easy after that," Edie told Susan. She didn't know what was in front of her. It was best she didn't.
    They pushed the chair up two feet and it slid back and sideways a foot. If it wasn't for the mud it wouldn't be so bad but it was hard on the two of them, one woman in a wheelchair and a child. They were wet from perspiration by the time they reached the top of the hill. Edie yelled out, "There's the fence. Now I was told there is a house a few feet behind it." They looked around but they didn't see a house. 
   Susan yelled, "Mommy, there's a house down that hill." She pointed in the direction where the house was. 
   Edie yelled to Susan, "Come get me, I can't move in the mud." When Edie got to the edge of the driveway to the house, she gulped. Oh my God, look at what we have to go down, she thought. I thought the school hill was bad. I can't show Susan that I'm afraid.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (7)

    Susan pulled a sandwich out of the cloth bag that was wrapped in wax paper that was wax paper at one time. Now it was a ball of wax. Susan removed the hard homemade bread somewhat shaped sandwich. She started to eat it and Edie asked her what was in it. Susan replied what it was every day. Pork and lard. Edie said let me see it. Susan showed her. There it was. Pork, not cooked all the way and a big spoon full of lard on each side of the bread. "Do you like this?"
   "Well, no, I scrape off the lard," Susan replied. 
   "Who makes your lunch?"
   "Kathrine does." Well, Kathrine was simpleminded. 
   "I don't want you to eat pork unless it is well done. It's not safe. You hear me?"
   "Oh, mommy," Susan half crying. 
   "God, will I be glad when we get away from this place," Edie said as she turned her chair around like she was going to climb that hill by herself. All she accomplished was spinning her wheels and making a mess out of the sides of her wheelchair with mud. 

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAINS (6)

    Edie also didn't like the idea that Susan had to use the girl's privy behind the school house. The boys had one, too. How unsanitary. The teacher made them all go out for recess and lunch because they needed the fresh air, but it was too cold to be out-of-doors so they would hang out at the privy.
    Edie pushed the wheels on her chair so hard she skidded in the mud and lost control and almost flipped the chair over. She was so mad to hear what her daughter had to go through at that miserable school. She felt sorry for the children who had to live that way. Susan wasn't going to. No more!
    Edie stopped for a minute. "I was told that passed the school and up a hill would be a fence on the right. Turn there." 
    "Oh we have to go up this hill," Susan moaned. "Oh Mommy."
    "I'm sorry sweetheart."
    "Not much longer now."
    "May I have a sandwich first?"
    "Yes, you may!"

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAIN (5)

    They had to go down a steep hill. Edie held back on the wheels and Susan held back on the back of the chair. Susan leaned to the side behind her mother hoping no one would see her. Edie was not happy about Susan going to this country school. The school house was still the one room building that it's been for a hundred years. The population hadn't grown in years. As soon as the children were of age, they moved to the cities where there was work. Well, at least most of them. Edie didn't like the idea that Susan was the only third grader that year, so the teacher kept forgetting her. For each class, the teacher would take to front of the room. First, would be the first graders with reading (there were four students in that class) then the second graders (five in that class) and so on until ninth grade (which had  two girls and they had to carry the drinking water for the class and get the fire wood for the big wood stove that stood in the middle of the classroom). 

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAIN (4)

   They rested for a few minutes. Edie took a drink of water from the canning jar. One thing she could say good about the mountains was the water. Yes, it was good and cold. Susan sat on the ground up against a tree. It felt good to sit. Pushing that chair in the mud was hard for an eight-year-old and they had about three miles more to go on a hilly road. Well, rest time was over. Edie wanted to get off the road before her brother came in for lunch. When Susan got up she was covered with mud. Edie was upset with her but she was only eight but what was she going to do? Maybe the mud will brush off when it dried. There was some water in the jar that Susan could wash her face and hands with. That was the end of the water. They started again and saw the school and Susan became nervous.

ESCAPE FROM THE MOUNTAIN (3)

   After heating the water on the wood stove, Susan took it to her mother so she could wash up. Katherine carried in a cup of coffee to Edie. Which Edie was most grateful.
   Katherine made some sandwiches and a jar of water and packed them in a cloth bag. No time for breakfast. It was just lumpy, cold oatmeal anyway. Katherine was a terrible cook. Susan grabbed one of the sandwiches going out the door.
    Katherine helped Edie down the steps with her in the wheel chair. She hated to see Edie leave, she was the only company she had. But she knew how afraid she was of Bill and if she could leave she would, too. Well, she couldn't because of the children. The two women hugged and cried and said their goodbyes, knowing that they probably would never see one another again. Even though they weren't best friends, they were still sisters-in-law.
    Susan started down the muddy road. Susan pushing the back of the wheel chair and Edie pushing the wheels on the other side. They came to the spot where Susan hid the bag with the clothes. Of course, it was soak and wet being through the storm. Edie put it on the steps of the chair, after ringing the water out of the clothes.